Trio’s lineout in Japan led to first US touchdown for small whiskey producer

Negotiations that led directly to the first US sales for small Northern Ireland producer of handcrafted Irish whiskeys began over craft beers in a bar during last year’s Rugby World Cup in Japan!

While it wasn’t a great tournament for Ireland’s rugby team and followers, Ireland Craft Beverages (ICB), which is based in Belfast, scored with a leading distributor of international spirits and beers and has sent three significant consignments of drinks, including the recently launched Two Stacks Irish Whiskey from Killowen Distillery at Rostrevor in Co Down, to the dynamic US marketplace.

ICB director Shane McCarthy, one of those enjoying the craic and beers before Ireland’s losing match against Japan in Shizuoka, explains. “There’s surely no better way for an Irish whiskey producer to negotiate a deal than over drinks in a bar and talking about rugby! We were in Japan on a mission that was supported by business development agency Invest Northern Ireland to market our range of spirits and craft beers from the island of Ireland during the global sporting occasion.

“We were introduced to High Road Spirits (HRS), a major US distributor of artisan drinks, by our business partner in Japan. They had a longstanding business

relationship with HRS and were keen to help us in our efforts to break into the States, which has become the world’s most important and fastest growing market for Irish whiskey.”

An experienced sales and marketing specialist from Newry, Shane was in Japan with fellow ICB directors Liam Brogan and Donal McLynn. The trio has a successful track record in selling beers and ciders from many Irish producers in Japan and other markets including Europe and the Middle East. They rebranded the marketing business in 2019 to focus on assisting smaller whiskey distillers, including Killowen Distillery, to grow international sales.

“Winning our first business and two successive repeat orders for our whiskey from HRS is a hugely exciting export deal for us at such an early stage in our development as a company,” he continues.

Shane describes HRS, the new customer, as “highly regarded as having one of the best portfolios of super premium global spirits in the US”. “They did not, however, have an Irish whiskey in their impressive portfolio of artisanal spirits and were very keen to line up a trusted supplier due to the phenomenal growth in Irish whiskey as the world’s fastest growing golden spirit.

“The informal chat in the bar enabled us to learn a lot about how HRS operates, its requirements and the growing desire for a taste of Ireland in the portfolio,” adds Shane.

The HRS directors left the bar with an invitation from ICB to visit to Ireland.

“They jumped at the chance to visit us towards the end of last year, to view and sample what we have to offer including the impressive range of Killowen spirits at its small distillery in the picturesque Mourne Mountains. This pioneering distillery has created a superb experimental series of cask strength whiskeys as well as craft gin and a unique poitin. It was a golden opportunity for us to get to know how the HRS team and their business requirements for a new supplier. We showed them how the new wave of Irish artisan spirits could stand tall in their global portfolio,” he continues.

The trip led directly to an initial order from HRS.

“We were due to launch with them in March, but this, of course, was delayed due to the pandemic and associated lockdowns both here and in the US until August. We are now onto our second volume shipment into the US, with this current load being primarily Killowen-based spirits especially the cask strength whiskeys.”

HRS, Shane continues, is “an ideal fit for ICB because it’s a collection of producers, educators, and story tellers which pushes the boundaries of exploration and discovery. Our company is built upon on these same founding principles of discovery, combined with a relentless pursuit of quality, integrity, and humility. Transparency is also an important element in our approach. We find great nourishment in working with people who dedicate their lives to their craft, and it is these producers’ compelling stories which we wish to tell.”

The US consignments included two limited edition whiskeys from Two Stacks, an attractive brand developed by the ICB team in their focus on reviving the age-old Irish tradition of independent blending, bonding and bottling of small batch whiskeys matured in rare casks. The Blender’s Cut featured Sauternes Cask Strength and Barbados Rum Cask Strength Irish Whiskeys. ICB is also working with other specialist distilleries across Ireland.

ICB’s objective is to develop Two Stacks as a whiskey brand “recognised for its quality, transparency and distinctive branding”, he adds.

The small batch business recently launched two distinctive Blender’s Cut whiskeys. These were developed in association with Killowen Distillery. The consignment, in addition, included ICB’s unique Dram in a Can, an Irish whiskey uniquely in a can.

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